Giant Cat Update
'Snowball' owner says he faked the picture
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May 22, 2001
Cordell Hauglie wasn't out to to deceive the world when he used his Photoshop software to meld snapshots of himself and his average-sized cat, Jumper, to create the illusion that the animal was four times its actual size. All he wanted to do was amuse his young daughter.
But once copies had been emailed to family and friends, the fate of Hauglie's little joke was beyond his control. Thanks to the Internet, it is an international phenomenon.
"I really had no intention of creating a hoax," he told the North Renfrew Times last week after being identified as the photo's anonymous creator. He said he is amazed by all the attention his little experiment has generated. He's even more amazed that some people actually believed the "giant cat" could be real.
"I had no thought in my mind that anyone would ever believe this," he said. "We looked at it and thought, this is so preposterous."
Hauglie was also eager to confirm that the "Snowball" story that began circulating with the picture a year after he created it is "totally bogus." He says he has no idea where the fanciful tale came from.
Hauglie views the "Snowball" phenomenon as a cautionary tale that should give other people pause before using the Internet as a vehicle for creative expression. "Once it's out there," he warns, "it's totally out of your control. Luckily this was a relatively benign thing, but if some guy and his dumb cat can go around the world, you've got to be careful," he said.
Amen. Even so, we thank you for the chuckle, Mr. Hauglie. There's no harm in that.
Sources:
- "Search Continues for Fat Cat." North Renfrew Times, 1 May 2001.
- "Found! 'Cat Man' Comes Clean." North Renfrew Times, 15 May 2001.
